Harmon v. Old Colony R. Co.

• Citation: 165 Mass. 100,42 N.E. 505
• Parties: HARMON v. OLD COLONY R. CO.
• Decision Date: 02 January 1896
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

165 Mass. 100

42 N.E. 505

HARMON v. OLD COLONY R. CO.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

January 2, 1896

COUNSEL

A.A. Strout and Geo. E. Smith, for plaintiff.

Benton & Choate, for defendant.

OPINION

ALLEN J.

The general question arising in this case is whether, in an action brought by a married woman to recover damages for a personal injury, the impairment of her capacity to perform labor can be considered as an element of the damages. By St.1846, c. 209, § 1, it was enacted that "in all cases where married women shall hereafter by their own labor earn wages, payment may be made to them for the same." This was followed by St.1855, c. 304, § 7: "Any married woman may carry on any trade or business and perform any labor or services on her sole and separate account; and the earnings of any married woman from her trade, business, labor or services shall be her sole and separate property and may be used and invested by her in her own name; and she may sue and be sued as if sole in regard to her trade, business labor, services and earnings; and her property acquired by her trade, business and service and the proceeds thereof, may be taken on any execution against her." By St.1857, c 249, § 6, it was provided that a husband should not be bound by his wife's contracts in respect to her separate property or to her trade. The rights of married women in respect to their labor are thus defined in Gen.St. c. 108: Section 1: "The property, both real and personal which any married woman now owns as her sole and separate property, that which comes to her by descent, devise, bequest, gift or grant, that which she acquires by her trade, business, labor or services carried on or performed on her sole and separate account *** shall notwithstanding her marriage, be and remain her sole and separate property and may be used, collected and invested by her in her own name, and shall not be subject to the interference or control of her husband, or liable for his debts." Section 3: "A married woman may bargain, sell and convey her separate real and personal property, enter into any contracts in reference to the same, carry on any trade or business and perform any labor or services on her sole and separate account and sue and be sued in all matters having relation to her separate property, business, trade, services, labor and earnings in the same manner as if she were sole." Section 5: "The contracts made by a married woman in respect to her separate property, trade business labor or services shall not be binding on her husband, nor render him or his property liable therefor; but she and her separate property shall be liable for such contracts in the same manner as if she were sole." Section 6: "Payment may be made to a married woman for wages earned by her labor," etc. By St.1862, c. 198, amended by St.1881, c. 64, § 1, a married woman doing business on her separate account must record a certificate in the town or city clerk's office setting forth various particulars, or her husband may file such certificate. In case of failure to do so, her property will not be protected against his creditors, and he will be liable on her contracts. By St.1874, c. 184, § 1, "a married woman may *** make contracts oral and written, sealed and unsealed in the same manner as if she were sole, and all work and labor performed by her for others than her husband and children shall, unless there is an express agreement on her part to the contrary, be presumed to be on her separate account." And by section 3 "a married woman may sue and be sued in the same manner and to the same extent as if she were sole, but nothing herein contained shall authorize suits between husband and wife." This enumeration of statutes shows the growth of the legislation on this particular subject, and the foregoing provisions are now embodied in a somewhat compressed form in Pub.St. c. 147.

By virtue of this legislation, a married woman becomes, in the view of the law, a distinct and independent person from her husband, not only in respect to her right to own property but also in respect to her right to use her time for the purpose of earning money on her sole and separate account. She may perform labor, and is entitled to her wages or earnings. If she complies with the statutory requirements as to recording a certificate, s...